the city, we are so proud of your work. karin that i have known for 30 years, thank you for you and all of the volunteers from the rainbow fund to put this together to place all of these 10,000 ornaments on the tree to give us the kind of attention that we would like not just because we have a great tree or city hall, but because we do always want to show our hearts first, especially during these holiday season. i know that is why, all of you are here tonight. and i want to also give a shout out to isabel iunda, thank you very much for being here, isabel. and linda mahara, thank you for your wonderful presentation, you know the stories that linda tells every year that updates us. these are the stories that i am proud of. because for every story that she has told about the

original, the origin of origami, we inherit those stories and spread them to generations of our friends and children and so they understand what hope is about. >> halahanzo, and our san francisco, polorio. thank you for being here tonight. i also know that veronica klaus, thank you for being here. sisters, i was going to say the sisters of petulince. thank you for being here as well. [ applause ] and of course, you will hear and you have heard them earlier, our san francisco boys chorus, thank you, boys chorus for being here to celebrate. and then, tonight, many of you will be treated to goodies and some refreshments all donated through the world fund and

their volunteers and all of the small businesses of san francisco. thank you for your wonderful donations during these holidays. said earlier, the tree of hope is our symbol of tolerance and acceptance. and i know what is on my mind, hopefully by the end of this week is that we will see more than this symbol. we will see the wishes, that this tree represents for all of us. and that will make this world, with our own decisions, with our own hands, more acceptance, more tolerance, as we wait with great anxiousness on our u.s. supreme court to exhibit their tolerance in our united states for the same-sex marriage that we all deserve. [ applause ] i also wanted to again, acknowledge that this is the season of giving, and hope that you will join us from now to

the end of january, and a donation in the city hall when you have to visit, we have canisters for those who need food for this season, also if you would join us in the weekend of december 15th and 16th, we are going to have family orientation outside with snow day here in city hall. we are bringing snow in again. and we are going to enjoy this with our snow day, december 15th and 16th, you are all welcome to come and bring the kids and all of the extended families. and if i may say again, these holidays and what the tree represent is the best hope and wishes. the holidays should never be about ourselves. what reminds us and what this tree will continue doing, is that you have to remember others that are less fortunate, and share our hearts and our

minds and our resources with them. and it is just like japan, for what they have done. if you read the papers recently, you know, that japan suffered a very harsh earthquake and tsunami a while back. and they could have easily said, that we are victims of a national disaster. but, when the country heard that the debris was crossing international lines, all the way to the west coast, and they did not claim victim. they also said, we could help. and that is why we heard the news of japan donating $5 million to help the west coast also deal with the debris. that is a wonderful, wonderful gesture of humanitarian work. and so it is my honor tonight, that i stand here with council

general inamata welcoming him and the symbol of his country and knowing the origins of the origami and knowing that we have his blessing and his country's blessing, and working with us to make the world better. and create more peace to create tolerance and acceptance for everyone and that this will always improve the quality of life for everyone on this planet. and so, it is with that, that i welcome mr. inamata and the council general of japan here to say a few words before we exchange our blessings to each other as cities and as countries trying to help the world improve. council general >> thank you, mayor, thank you. >> well, good evening, it is my great pleasure to be here, this is the 7th, and the world annual world tree of hope

celebrations, here at city hall. and the rainbow world fun and mayor lee. and the san francisco japanese-american community. all arranging this ceremony. this is actually my third time to be here to stage, to say a few words. the first time it was three years ago. and we celebrated the world champions of san francisco giants. and this year, as well. we have many things to celebrate, many things to cherish. including the second time in three years but at the same time, there are lots likes

natural disasters. >> in 20 months, have passed since the tsunami in japan. and the theme of tonight, celebration has been one of the essential components of japan's role of habitation and construction. the open of the japanese people and the support of the international community has given our survival. japan is still on its way to recovery. but i wish once again, to thank

you for your continued friendship and compassion. thank you very much. [ applause ] , thank you. >> our celebration tonight, demonstrates our community's dedication to this hope for world peace. love, acceptance, and and i hope that we will continue to create a trusting legacy, lasting legacy here in san francisco city hall. as linda mentioned and also the mayor lee said that this is the largest tree of origami so what a beautiful tree we have. for each crane on the tree contains a wish from all over

the world. i am optimistic that our hope will grow just like this tree. may we make these wishes come true by allowing the cranes to fly towards their hopes and dreams. thank you, thank you very much and now i would like to exchange cranes with mayor. >> let's hear it for them. >> i see the crowd goes every year for this event and it grows in size and diversity and you are all welcome here and the mayor would reflect those words as well. he loves seeing this diversity

and we were laughing at a minute ago what a wonderful thing to have in city hall right here, one person that we forgotten to mention and a lot of this is in our program, take it home, but the tree was donated from the delancy street foundation, get your tree from them. i always try to keep an eye out for an elected officials i did see the fire chief walk in and joanne is here. thank you for being here. and now we are going to go back to our regular program because we have several people who have wishes who have spoken words they want to give to you that kind of express their take on the tree of hope. first of all, mention once before but now hear to speak to you alahandro mahe and teaches at the san francisco university and short story edit tore and award winner and here he is. >> thank you.

>> you look fabulous. you remind me of my first girlfriend. only she was not as tall. but, i want to thank the mayor lee, and the mayor's office, and jeff, and world rainbow fund and all of you for the invitation to be here tonight. we are so privileged to be able to gather together in community and joy and celebration and hope while so much of the world is plunged in darkness and chaos and war and intolerance. i am honored to read a poem for you tonight. >> the last time that i tried this, i pulled out a parking ticket. i got lucky this time.

in spanish, hope, is aransa. and the plural is suransa many hopes. this is esperansas, in memory of sadako. >> for mother nature, and the ocean. but the rivers and the forest. who will speak for the redwoods and the brisle cones? for the sailors lost at sea, for the eyes that search for them, for the soldier and the soldier's widow. for the one in jail, and for the one that waits for the one in jail. and for the one who never had a chance to speak and found guilty. for the lovers torn apart and

for the ones kept apart by, laws and prejudices. for the spare rows and the humming birds and for the weeds and the hararas and for the women of gaza. for the one tortured in the darkness. for the refugees wrapped in barbed wire. for each and every human being who sleeps tonight out in the rain. for shelter, for every human being who sleeps tonight out in the rain. for the child with nostalgia to be born, for every child to get home safe. for the elderly alone, for the worldwide end of hate, disease, and poverty. for a just world still to come,

where no one goes hungry and the water is clean. and prisons are outlawed and schools are free. and exciting. and poetry, mandatory. for police and politicians. for the indians of the amazon and for the jaquar faced for extinction and for the battle to stop and for every last gun to be forged into a pen, and for the most hopeless, hopeless in the world, those without even dreams to get by. here there is 100, 10,000 origamis waiting for you, floating in the rainbow of hope

>> thank you. >> san francisco poet, that was moving. >> okay we mentioned something called the sisters of perpetual indulgence, if you don't know who they are, any san francisco event who does not have a sister back stage or on stage is not a san francisco event. representing the sisterses of professional indulgence. >> as always, we are so honored

to be a part of this magnificent celebration. i would like to also thank my sisters, sister patent leather and sister jaya gamoore and sister may joy in the wings. i would like to start off by making a confession, i have not filled out my wish. and my wish would be i wish donna sasha would give me her necklace, doesn't she look gorgeous? >> maybe dreams, maybe wishes do come true. so, today, we are gathered here in the heart of our city, beneath a symbol of energy and life and hope for the world. you have decorated it with peace cranes and light. wishes and dreams, and most importantly your energy. and now, on behalf of the

sisters of perpetual indulgence inc, we gather this energy and strength that we may send it to the nuns above and to give it to any and all that needs its strength. to release the energy of hope that this magnificent tree represents i will ask each and every one of you if you please every time you hear me say we say... you will evoke the words of harvey milk by saying as one group you got to give them hope. now please raise your hands towards the tree of hope and we say you got to give them hope. for all lgbtq young people struggling with bullies and intolerance, we say that you got to give them hope for all

transgendered people fighting to live with dignity and respect. we say you got to give them hope. for all of those who seek to protect the rights of lgbtq people across the world, we say you got to give them hope. for our sick and elderly in need of a will having word, a sign of hope, we say, you got to give them hope. each of us gathered here tonight gives witness to the power of hope in our dark world. to you, we say p you got to give them hope. >> to each of us struggling with our own dark places in our hearts, we say, you got to give them hope. i asked each of you as you leave here tonight, a promise, to reach out to at least one person in your life this holiday season, and say, i love you.

to give you strength to do so, we say you got to give them hope. now, i will ad lib just a little bit and also to all of those regions that have recently been affected by natural disasters the eastern sea board of the united states and japan and other places in the world we say you got to give them hope. and now, with the energy raised through or from this tree, from the energy raised in our hearts, we seal these blessings and anoint you all with a holy blessing with our love. please administer the glitter. last trouble we got in trouble with housekeeping, so we will do pretend glitter. as it spreads may your love and cheer spread, may it remain on you as long as it is needed and

work its way to every part of you that needs magic and light. and now, loudly please, repeat after me. 1, joy, more joy. always joy. and continue to repeat after me, blessed be... this blessed day. tuesday, december 4th, 2012. and as sisters as we always end our blessings, repeat after me, amen, awomen, and all of the others. thank you. and have a beautiful holiday season. [ applause ] >> this is how we celebrate the holidays in san francisco, you are not in kansas any more. let's hear it for the sisters.

before we go any further we have one more speaker and some of you have been siping wine, barefoot and bubblely, let's hear it for barefoot and bubblely, afterwards you will be enjoying food was donated by restaurants and asked again and again by so many organization and events and i want to recognize them with lots of enthusiasm, cafe, floor, hot cookies, bomba, garden, and paxis. i am sure that i with missed somebody and before we close out we have one speaker that impersonally looking forward to, this is going to close out the program and at the close of those programs we will do a

count down and if you think that tree is pretty now, wait until you see it lit. we are honored to have a special guest tonight, isabel ayunda, the best selling author and considered to be the world's most widely read spanish language author. now there is something her novels, the house of spirit and pola and the city of beasts some of the books have been made into films and inducted into the american academy of arts and letters and received the national literature prize and awarded the literature award and also a writer and humanitarian and how appropriate to have her here, improving the lives of others around the world promoting hope and social justice, honored to have you here and your husband, william gordon, both are here tonight. she will share a message and i

will her to do a short count down and i think that we will start at 82. probably ten. please join me in welcoming isabel iyenda. >> thank you, thank you, thank you. i feel like a rat compared to this lady. really, thank you for this invitation. hope, that is the key word for the year to come. not irrational, but realistic optimism, there are many good reasons to be very hopeful. it is time to put our losses and frustrations in a paper bag and burn them. they belong to the past. the new year is like a last stage where we will write our dreams and hopes.

what do we hope for? not only jobs, the end of the recession, and a congress that works for a change. let's be greetier. let's hope for a better country, and a safer world. for more compassion. and let's also wish for good fortune for this, our lovely city of san francisco. at the personal level, let's hope for less stress, because the crucial event that determine our life, are beyond our control. and that and good things just happen let's not blame ourselves too harshly when things go wrong. there is usually room for a lot of mistakes and new beginnings. strength comes from overcoming obstacles. that is how we learn and never

from our success. we learn from our mistakes. if we are here to end and we do all of the time we just turn around and start again. we all make foolish choices and yet we are here standing, aren't we? we san franciscoans feel entitled to good coffee and permanent happiness. [ applause ] >> i agree with the coffee. but happiness? it is over rated. there is something... there is nothing wrong with struggle, and some pain. if nothing hurts we are dead. all of this wining about the state of the world is so annoying. the world may not be good, but it is certainly better than it was before. this is why i am hopeful never

before has humanity had so many resources, knowledge, power, and information. it has never been so interconnected, we are stronger and smarter and we lived longer than our grand parents. it can certainly destroy the planet but probably we will not. we will improve it. because that is what we have been doing since the stone age. we are moving forward and hear in california, we are always a step ahead of everybody else. [ applause ] >> so these are my hopes for the next few months. that we can all have meaningful life. and that we can be close to each other, and participate in our communities, and serve and volunteer. caring for others is cheaper than therapy, it makes a lot of sense and you get to meet nice

people. >> i hope that we will be more joyful, creative and playful. that we will have less caution and more passion in matters of the heart. and that we will enjoy sorrowfully this crazy, and extraordinary city of san francisco. when we light this beautiful tree, let's make a wish. let's wish that all of us fall in love with life. thank you. [ applause ] >> i am going to buy one of her books now, i am telling you. >> all right, we are not starting at 82 because i want to see how that tree looks, are they ready upstairs? there is my signal. let's start with 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. happy holidays.

isabel. thank you so much for being here and all of the speakers and the people on stage and for coming up with this wonderful idea and if you don't come there won't be a party and so come against next year, my wish that you will ask me to mc this again next year, let's enjoy barefoot bubbly and the restaurants that i listed take your programs home, i'm donna, sachet. thank you. ♪